Medical Guide Part 2 - Making the Appointment

If you're new to me, Hi and welcome to the new roaring twenties. Not going to bombard you with new year new you shiz, the algorithm will do that for you. Instead I'm here with another entry into my medical guide to hopefully help someone out there to go to the d@mn doctor be it, medical, eye, teeth, etc. What I do when I go the doctor is in Part 1 but then it also occurred to me that not everyone is comfortable talking to people in phone or in person and by some, I mean a lot.

Social anxiety is a thing for tons of people to varying degrees and if you're like me living in a rural area where you're lucky if you can find your doctor's office online let alone book an appointment. Sometimes it's inevitable that you have to talk to a person and I understand that is uncomfortable, but it must be done so I hope this lays some details out for you in order to get it done in the least amount of time/ slash conversation possible.

1. Preparation is key. Why are you calling? What symptoms do you have or do you recognize a sinus infection that you get every season that you know you'll need antibiotics? This is why part one is up first. The more you know and have written (or typed) the better you can spout it off when you're on the spot.

2. When do you have time to go? Everyone is busy with life and work but strep throat doesn't care if you have a final or a business meeting. So find out how soon you need to make an appointment. If you're already home sick, you want to get in asap. If you're not home yet maybe you need to plan on your lunch break. I know with my general 9 to 5, it was easier to set it for the morning then go to work late and stay if necessary than try to get off at a certain time to not be late. But that depends on your schedule.

3. What insurance are you using and is this office in your network to hopefully get a smaller copay and overall a smaller bill. There's 2 ways for this to go. You can do the research, beforehand, in your prep to talk to your insurance and they will find an office in your network or for lack of better words, someone they prefer to work with. Or you can talk to the doctor's office you're wanting to go to and they will run the info from your insurance card to let you know the details so keep it on hand.


4.This brings us to the moment of truth and the best thing you can do is to be nice to the receptionist and everything will be smooth. They will ask you questions and chances are you'll have the answers because you wrote them down in step 1. If this is your very first appointment to this office or doctor, you can say something like this:

"Hi. My name is ____. I'm needing to set up an appointment as a new patient." or if you already go to that office just drop the "as a new patient" and add " with Dr. _______."

There will be questions they HAVE to ask you and 98% of the time are also handling people in person as well as stuff going on behind the scenes on their end, so be nice and they'll move you right along and get you in a good spot. I've rarely run into a rude receptionist or nurse but it may happen, just get the information you need and be done as quick as possible. And remember to say thank you no matter what.

QUICK NOTE: ALWAYS GET THEIR NAME. It's always good to get a name so if you talked with them and clicked, had chemistry, made a good connection, etc. It means that you have a point of contact to ask for in the future. On the other hand if, they aren't for you or you just don't like them, you know who to avoid. Write It Down! That's the same for the office staff and especially the nurses.


This helped me get into the swing of things when making appointments especially in the beginning of my spoonie journey. Take the new year into a new decade to be your best self and that includes your health so please cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough, wash your hands, and go to the doctor.


In the meantime, here's some other posts that aren't medically related...

Good Reads and the Like - http://bit.ly/Yareads22

Planners Gonna Plan - http://bit.ly/HLPlanner

Adulting Win - http://bit.ly/Adultwin



And follow me if you please...

Instagram...  http://bit.ly/MyIgJazz

Bloglovin...  http://bit.ly/MyBloglovinPg

Medical Guide Part 1

Appointments in general are a thing, but doctor’s appointments can easily be the toughest to get through. I’m no stranger to the doctor, even before being thrown headfirst into the spoonie life, there’s been talking my friends to go to the doctor in college because swine flu was thing and so was quarantine. Talking my friend and co-worker to go to the doctor because she’s planning to go on a trip and that includes a plane with all the limited and communal air and a baby who’s young enough to have an immune system like mine naturally.

I get it, no one likes the doctor, or the dentist, or the optometrist nor does anyone like paying for it. But the alternative could be worse and you’ll spend a hella lot more guaranteed… so I’m put together a few of my best tips when dealing with those of the medical variety for your adulting accomplishments and with strep season upon us and flu season on the way, please take care of yourselves. 

It’s easy to feel intimidated and sometimes powerless when you’re going to the doctor. It’s normal and it happens, but it doesn’t mean that you have to go through the motions. It’s important to take control of your health for whatever may come your way, spoonie or not. It’s easy to hear and say “be your own advocate”, but how do you do that? Well here’s what I do, so check it out and try what you like and if it works for you too, great and if not, well you have a starting point and can make it work for you. Afterwards, if you don’t mind, report back!

Part 1: Notes
Whether you use an app on your phone or a physical notebook to write on, do it because I can just about guarantee that you will not remember by the time you leave that office. Now I will say that doctors don’t generally like seeing phones out and may ask you to put them away. I prefer to write things down because you can develop your own shorthand without the threat of autocorrect.


Now let me break this down:

Date/Time/Doctor – standard information especially if you have multiple doctors or if you’re a caregiver to someone else. Do you have a hard time setting up the appointment? Well stay tuned because that's coming up soon because I know that for a lot of people, that's not easy.

Reason – is it a follow up? Do you have symptoms? Describe them. If it’s pain, does it throb or is it stabbing or just sharp? On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the worst pain you’ve ever experienced, where are you currently or when it was at its worst? How many times have you felt it, whatever ‘it’ may be?

List of Medications – It’s important to know what you’re taking and how much you’re taking between Rx Prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, and even vitamins or holistic practices. They all are chemical reactions happening in your gut and body, so it’s important for the doctor and the pharmacist to know so you don’t make yourself worse.

Vitals – every place does it so write them down, even the weight because unexplained weight gain or loss can be a symptom. Especially for us in the plus sized community, we know that a lot of attention gets directed at this number. So do yourself a favor and write it down because you know your habits and what has changed vs what hasn’t. Writing it down gives you evidence and backup to your case that there is a problem even if your clue is weight loss.

The rest is for your notes, what is the doctor’s plan? Is he giving you a prescription? What is it and what is the dosage? How long do you have to take it?

What is your diagnosis? If you don’t have one, what tests are being ordered and what is the procedure for that test or what is it supposed to show?

If you come up with questions after the appointment, write them down to either call the doctor back or to save for the next appointment.


So here’s part one. Take what you will and I hope it helps you get that annual physical or handle multiple visits for yourself or someone else. Stick around for the next tip because as much as we don’t want to do or would rather have mom do it, we need it.


In the meantime, here are other posts that are not medically related so stick around a while...


Good Reads and the Like ~ http://bit.ly/Yareads22

Planning ~ http://bit.ly/HLPlanner

Streaming FOMO ~ http://bit.ly/streamingFOMO


And while you're here, follow a girl on

Bloglovin' ~ http://bit.ly/MyBloglovinPg


Instagram ~ http://bit.ly/MyIgJazz